Ms Jane-Ann McKenna:

I will do my best to answer the questions from members. The humanitarian situation within Syria is extremely complex. The UN and EU have pulled their staff out of the country. For more than 18 months, MSF has been involved in ongoing negotiations with the Syrian authorities in order to be able to work within the areas controlled by them. As Dr. Paul McMaster said, we are only working in opposition-held areas. There is a clandestine air to the operation. We have informed the authorities that we are there. They know we are there but they still have not given us permission to be there. From our perspective it is an extremely insecure position in which to work. Only yesterday, we publicised a region in eastern Syria which is further removed from the focus which is mostly on the western front. The eastern area is vast and it has no assistance whatsoever. In a town of 300,000 people, only 50,000 remain there. They are under constant attack. It was even too dangerous for us to set up our operation there. This is only one example of a number of places in Syria where no one knows what is the current situation. No one has any idea of the severity of the situation nor the number of civilians caught up in this type of conflict.